Electric squib firing device



May 9, 1950 w. M. HARTON ELECTRIC sQCIB EIRINC DEVICE Filed April 23, 1946 gl'nucuot William M Hartm-L Patented May 9, 1950 ELECTRIC SQUIB FIRING 'DEVICE iWilliamebi; Hartom Conway, Ark.

A AApplicationApril' 23, 1946, Serial No. 6641.182

(Cl. F75- 115) (Grantedv under the act .of March ,3, :1883,"as amended April 3i), 1928-;` 3711-0. G. 4757;)

The vinvention, described: `li'iereinlmaybe manu-.- factured andi usedby'for'sfon the-Government for vgovernmental purposespwithoutzthe payment to me of any royalty 'thereon.

The present' .invention relatemtorfairfiringr device and, more particularly, to ans-'apparatus for r'- ing multiple velectric squibsv The device 1of. `the present inventionhas' particular utility in connection with the electrical.ringfoffrockets'*from multiple rocket launcl'lersa` It is an object o'f the present invention-'topm- `vide a reliable devi'cefi'or iri'ng`A multiple electric squibs which will combine-fthefunctionsof opplish the above-named .objects 'with a ader/ice cussed labove which- -ma-y 'flie- Aopera-I'Ledfl'ay a *lanyard Another object of the invention is to provide a deviceior accomplishing-theabove-named objects which-is-selfecentained andlsuiciently ccmpact for mounting on the gun, launcher, or vehicle with which it is to be used.

The accomplishment of the above and other objects will be apparent from the following description of a specific embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the assembled device.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2 2, of Fig. 1. y l

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the safety switch taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus is mounted on a base plate I adapted to be secured to a gun, launcher, vehicle or the like. Near one edge of the plate, there is disposed an operating bar 2 which is slidably mounted on the plate by studs 3 and elongated apertures 4 to permit limited longitudinal movement of the bar with respect to the plate I.

Onezend of-"thevbar iisfpivotably connectedfito ya lever arm` 'xwhich is pivlotally Amounted.on=the plate by'pivotfbolt. A secondleverl arm 1f which is pivotallyfmounted on plate I` at the pivotsbclt 8, is connected atr one end byitherpin 9 movin-g in slot 9' tc the end of. 'leverarmj Thevoppositef'end .ofirlever .arm-11 ,is :pivotably connected to atoggle- |10' to: which may fbei attached a ilanyard IfI t It"wil1,:b.el apparent lfrom, `the vforegoing-maiisclosure that-a. .pull onA the lai-)yardY `Il 4operating through the interconnected pivote'd levery .armsfii andl .i1 ywill cause thefbar ZitoT be: moved' longitudinally'on th'estuds-3 to: the li'mitsoifthe` apen* 'tuneslt A pin 25 also isffprovid'edto limitpiv.-

otingl movement. of the. lever arm '15. 'When'the pull` on. the `lanyard IiIl iis-discontinued, `a-.spring t2=attachedvat onesendvto' `tlreloasefplate I 'and atr'the other end'tolever arm'rfS adjacent theipin l@returns the device ftofit's original position.

vThe opposite ends of bar'lZu-is-L'pivotably attached to alever-a-rm Iii-which is `pivotably mounted' by pivotboltili cn the base'plated. The free eend which Imay-"befattaclrxe'da flanyard -I 6 ifor .optional use. Pin- 'V26' fis provided tof'limit pivoting movement -ofleverarm 'I3'.

A pivotablly mounted -Ipin -Il1A iswprovidedlon'the end of lever arm I3 adjacent theftoggle-IBhaving` an aperture' I tov receive `the-end of yrod I9 which is threadedIto hold-adjustingrnutsf20fffcr ad'justablyv securing the rod I9 to pin- `'I1'. The lop'cositeend of rod II9 is formed lwith aacollar 2l for yretaining `spring '22 onthe rod I9; :A sleevemember Z13-is -slidably mounted on-rod" t9 in=--contac`tfW-ith spring' 2'2. Ihesl'eeve member Z3 is pvotably mounted on the arm 24 which is pivoted on the center bolt 21 of a selector switch.

A spring loaded pawl 29 is mounted on the arm 2t to engage a metal ratchet wheel 30 rotatably mounted on the center bolt 21, but electrically insulated therefrom by insulating bushing 3|. rThe ratchet wheel 3D carries an electrical contacter 32 for successively contacting the metal plates 33 radially mounted on an insulator base E3. Each of the plates 33 is provided with a connecting post 34 adapted to be connected to a lead wire from one or more electric squibs not shown in the drawing.

The ratchet wheel 30 makes electrical contact through a plurality of nibs 35 with a metal ring 36 which is insulated by bushing 31 and separator 38. ,Spring 43 retained on the bolt 21 by nut 44 Eurges the wheel 3B downwardly to establish good electrical contact of the nibs 35 with the ring38. An arm 39 on the ring 36 is provided with a connecting post 40 to receive a lead wire 4I to be described more particularly hereinafter.

In View of the above description, it will be seen that a pull on either lanyard will cause lever arm I3 to pivot at I4 thus moving rod I9 longitudinally causing ratchet arm 24 and thus the ratchet wheel 30 to rotate in a clock-wise direction. A stop 42 is provided to limit movement of the arm 24 and thus the Wheel 30 to a distance just suilicient to move the `contacter 32 'to the next k is Y a conventional 10-cap blasting machine 45 which contains a generator operated by a crank arm 46. Attached to the crank arm 46 is a .connecting link 41 which is journaled on the bar 2 at the journal 48. By reason of this mechanical linkage, longitudinal movement of the Ibar 2 energizes the blasting machine.

One connecting post 49'of the blasting machine Y45 is connected to the lead wire 4I which, as described above, is attached to the connecting post 4l) of arm '39 of the selector switch. The other 5 connecting post 5D of the blasting machine 45 is connected by wire 60 to arm 5I of the simple -safetyswitch 52. Arm 53 of the switch is connected by wire 54 with a connecting post 55 -adapted to receive a lead line from the squibs toV be fired. A wedge member 56 is mounted on the bar 2 and adapted to be moved into and out of 4engagement with arms 5I and 53 to close or open the circuit upon longitudinal movement of bar 2. The wedge member 56 is so situated on parv 2 that the circuit is not closed until after the arm 24 of the selector switch has reached the stop 42. Thus it will be seen that a, pull on the lanyard will index the selector switch to a new `position before the safety switch is closed thereby insuring contact with the next metal plate 33 on the selector switch before a squib connected therewith is fired.

If desired a stand-by battery 5l as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 may be provided for yuse in case of malfunction of the blasting ma- -lchine 45.

Battery 51 may be electrically connected to the arm 5I of switch 52 and with connecting post 40 of the selector switch by wires -64 and 65,-respectively, shown in dotted lines.

It will be apparent from the above description that electric squibs connected to the metal plates 33 and connecting post 55 can be rapidly and conveniently red consecutively by successive pulls on one of the lanyards.

The specific embodiment of the invention described above will be subject to variation by one skilled in the art within the scope of the invention, and all such variations are intended to be included within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A ring device for firing a plurality of electric squibs in sequence comprising a selector switch having a plurality of radially disposed contact plates adapted to be electrically connected to a plurality of electric squibs, a rotatable ratchet wheel on said switch having a `contactor for making electrical contact with one of said plates selectively, a ratchet arm for rotating said ratchet wheel, a stop for limiting movement of the ratchet arm to a distance sufficient to move said contacter to the next contact plate, a lanyard, a bar actu ated by said lanyard mounted for limited longitudinal movement, a safety switch electrically connected to said contactor constructed and arranged to be closed by longitudinal movement of said bar a predetermined distance, a generator for generating electrical energy electrically connected to the switch and adapted to -be electrically connected to a plurality of electric squibs, said generator being actuated by longitudinal movement of said bar, a mechanical linkage between said bar and said ratchet arm for moving said arm the distan-ce permitted by said stop prie?.1 to the closing of the safety switch, said linkage including a spring member arranged to transmit force between said bar and said ratchet arm without limiting continued movement of the bar, and a, second spring member for returning the bar to its original position. Y

WILLIAM M. HARTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following 'references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

